2.7 Health information management 2.7.1 Information systems The current national HIS consists mainly of the information inputs obtained from the state health service, supplemented by other government sources. The present sub-systems of HIS include curative/hospital information systems, preventive health information systems, administrative and operational information systems, population census, civil registration and vital statistics system, and periodic population-based health and other surveys, e.g. Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), STEPwise approach to surveillance (STEPS) and Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES).6 Taken together, these sources provide information on population growth, births, marriages, morbidity and mortality, health-care access, health-care coverage, utilization, human resources for health and their distribution, health financing and other health-related data.
2.7.1.1 Population-based health information systems Sri Lanka has a history of census-taking dating back to 1871 and there have been decennial censuses except during times of war and armed conflict within the country. The most recent was in 2011–2012. These provide accurate geographically referenced health and health-related data and other social determinants of health. In addition, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) carries out health and health-related surveys such as the DHS, the first of which was held in 1987. This is repeated every four to six years, the last being in 2016. The HIES conducted every three years provides health-related costing information. All these surveys are sampled to provide disaggregated district-level data. In 2014, a National Survey on Self-reported Health in Sri Lanka was conducted by the DCS, which provided information related to chronic illnesses. Health data related to services provided by the MOH and team are available through the Reproductive Health Information Management System (RHIMS). The majority of the MOH areas are congruent with administrative boundaries at the divisional level. This information is linked to the services offered by the MOH and is fairly robust, with vaccination, antenatal care (ANC) and institutional deliveries being near-universal in Sri Lanka. The planned primary curative care reform7 and information system will provide community-based, geographically referenced morbidity and mortality data.
6
Health information systems are detailed in Chapter 4.
7
Detailed in Chapter 6.
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